Photograph by George Sakkestad
Pat Brady, 16, a Saratoga High School student, takes a drag during his lunch break
By Cecily Barnes
Fifteen-year-old Wyatt Taylor crouched in the parking lot behind Olympic Pizza, sucking on a Camel Wide. Next to him were other Saratoga High School students, all contributing to a growing pile of smashed cigarette butts next to the curb. Behind a sheet of blond hair that covered his face, Taylor acknowledged that he knew smoking was bad for him, but he didn't really care.
"I've never tried to quit, and it really doesn't sound that fun," Taylor said, rubbing out his cigarette butt on the parking bump and lighting up a fresh one.
"[My parents] say I shouldn't smoke, but they gave me a frickin' ashtray, so I don't know what to make about it," said Taylor, who claims the only reason he would quit would be to save the money.
Wyatt Taylor is exactly the sort of target at which President Clinton has aimed his new attack on teenage smoking. And according to figures collected by L.D. Hirsch-klau, the high school district's coordinator for drug and tobacco prevention, 10 percent to 15 percent of Saratoga teenagers smoke.
The president's new anti-smoking policy is intended to limit cigarette advertising aimed at teenagers and to crack down on tobacco sales to minors. If Wyatt Taylors around the nation can't buy cigarettes, they can't smoke them.
"The way we look at it, the kids are the victims," said Marilyn Ruth of the Tobacco Control Program of Santa Clara County. "If the retailers didn't sell to them, they wouldn't smoke."
Until recently, California law has focused only on punishing adults who sell tobacco to minors. Minors could light up and flash their cigarette packs without consequence. But on Sept. 30, Gov. Pete Wilson signed a bill that promises to slap a $75 fine, or 30 hours of community service, on any minor possessing tobacco come the first of the year.
Hirschklau opposes this bill, along with the American Lung, Heart and Cancer associations.
"Kids don't quit just because you charge them $40," Hirschklau emphasized. "If you're addicted, you're addicted."
Hirschklau says the new smoking law punishes kids for something it is an adult's responsibility to prevent. It is adults who display tobacco advertising that's attractive to youths, and it is adults who sell them cigarettes. So, why punish the kids?
However, Hirschklau and Ruth support Clinton's new policies designed to stonewall a minor's ability to obtain cigarettes and stop the advertising that beckons them.
"It really spurs us on that our president thinks this stuff is important," Ruth said.
But Saratoga was taking action long before President Clinton called the nation's attention to this problem. In 1990, Hirschklau helped pilot Smokeless Saturday School, an educational program for kids caught lighting up on campus. This program educates between 140 and 200 students every year about the negative effects of smoking.
"According to the number of kids who are getting caught, 10 [percent] to 15 percent of Saratoga kids are using tobacco, and 12 [percent] to 20 percent of kids in Los Gatos," Hirschklau explained.
In 1994, Hirschklau went one step further and started What's In/What's Out, a smoking-prevention program aimed at young women.
"We create a seminar for young women to deal with the issues about smoking, stress management and body imaging," Hirschklau said.
The What's In/What's Out program has been so successful that the Tobacco Control Coalition of Santa Clara County took over coordination responsibilities from Hirschklau, who was unable to continue the program due to lack of funding.
"It's quite an honor that they thought it was important enough to continue without a grant," Hirschklau said.
Hirschklau's programs have been a tremendous success. But she says teenage smoking is still on the rise, and more programs are needed. One of the major problems, Hirschklau admitted, is a lack of programs for kids who are already addicted to nicotine. The cessation rate for youths who try to quit smoking is not very high.
"Our goal is to get more cessation programs out there in the community so there will be something for them when they do decide to quit," Hirschklau said. "Three-quarters of kids who smoke wish they had never started."
But the hope is that for many kids, Clinton's new policies will help stop the problem before it begins.
"We did a survey of [tobacco] advertising in stores and found that in stores that are close to schools, there is more tobacco advertising, especially below the counter," Ruth explained. "There is also more tobacco advertising in store windows that are near schools."
Hirschklau argued that advertisement studies prove cigarette companies are manipulating vulnerable minors, who are supposed to be protected by the law until they are old enough to make responsible decisions.
"Most of the kids we see started experimenting at 9, 10 and 11 years old," Hirschklau said. "They're looking for a safe way to rebel."
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department routinely performs alcohol stings at liquor stores around the county, but has not yet included tobacco in these busts.
"We have not done a tobacco sting yet," said Capt. Robert Wilson. "I was rather surprised to hear that we have not included it."
But the Sheriff's Department is reviewing the law and hopes to include tobacco checks with the regular alcohol-sting operations soon.
As parents, educators and safety officers work together to combat teenage smoking, it is hoped that fewer kids will become smokers, and those who already are will have access to programs that can help them quit, Hirschklau said.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 23, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved